Inmate at Somers prison dies of apparent suicide

Associated Press

SOMERS, Conn. (AP) — Authorities say a man serving time for drug possession has died of an apparent suicide at a prison in Somers.

The Department of Correction says the 48-year-old man from Bridgeport had been serving a 3 ½-year sentence for possession of less than four ounces of marijuana or another controlled substance.

Authorities say staff conducting routine checks at the Osborn Correctional Institution found the man inside his cell around 3 a.m. Tuesday with a piece of bed sheet tied around his neck. Medical staff began life-saving measures, and he was taken to a hospital in Somers where he was pronounced dead.

The man had been alone in the cell.

The man entered the corrections system in June 2010. His name was withheld pending notification of family.